What's My Assignment?
By now, if you're a United Methodist pastor, you know your appointment for the year. The question is, do you know your assignment?
Thousands of United Methodist pastors will hear their names read this month “appointing” them to a church. Contrary to popular belief, the appointment-making process does not involve dart boards and diabolical laughter. Countless hours go into the consultations and deliberations. Bishops and District Superintendents work hard and care a great deal about matching the needs of a local church with the gifts of a pastor.
Those appointments can be even more effective and fulfilling when the pastor, the local church, and the district superintendent have discussed and are in agreement about the job that pastor is there to do. There are many things a pastor could do. And, there are many things that people within a church wish the pastor would do. What, specifically, however, does this particular church need from this particular pastor at this particular time in its history and development? Frequently little time is spent in identifying, clarifying, and agreeing on the specific focus and task of the pastor in that appointment. This results in frustration on the part of the pastor and the congregation and a less effective use of the pastor's time and energy.
Specificity about assignment is not foreign for United Methodists. Appointments of pastors to new church starts carry with them specificity about assignment: this is your task, this is what we expect from you here. An interim pastor, whether in an appointive or call system, usually either knows the assignment or clarifies the assignment: to help them heal, or move through a time of transition. And, there are times when a pastor is appointed to a church with the directive to help it close down with grace. For most appointments, however, we settle for the parties simply feeling like “this is a good fit.”
While important, a good fit is not enough. Without identifying and clarifying expectations, people, including the pastor and the cabinet, work and relate from their own personal assumptions of what the pastor's job is and what the desired outcomes are. Often people are not even aware they have assumptions about what the pastor should be doing…until he or she does something that runs counter to their unconscious picture. This can lead to conflict that feels over-blown and disproportionate to the situation. At other times, everyone's expectations are so minimal that it results in minimal development of the church. No matter the case, a three-way agreed upon assignment serves the congregation, the pastor called to provide leadership there, and the conference – who needs that church to function with the greatest possible vitality and effectiveness.
As we write about “assignments”, we make the basic assumption that the purpose of the greater church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. And, that the local church is an outpost established to do that work in a particular place among a particular people. Each congregation's task, though pointing to the same end, will be done in different ways. And so, each congregation will need a particular style and focus of leadership at each particular time in its history in order to further develop in its mission of disciple making.
The focus and goals of a particular congregation are likely very different than those of its sister congregation 10 miles away. This means that while a pastor brings with him or her to each appointment their cache of unique gifts, strengths and passions, how they use them will need to shift in order to meet the development needs of that particular congregation. The outcomes that pastor worked so hard to help the congregation achieve in his or her previous appointment may be of little need in this new appointment. Similarly, the outcomes a congregation has worked hard to achieve in the past may not need to be repeated, but viewed as a base from which to grow further and in a new way.
At times the pastor may need to adapt or even stretch him or herself or even develop totally new leadership abilities for the sake of the development of the system. The personnel group (Staff or Pastor Parish Relations Committee in the UMC) may need to adapt, stretch or even develop new understandings of what the pastor's role needs to be in order for the congregation to flourish. Their agreement about and support of the pastor's focus is critical. Without clarity about the assignment, the church does not receive what it needs for its development nor is the pastor empowered or supported to lead appropriately.
As the pastor, pastor/staff parish relationship committee (personnel committee) and conference staff person (usually the District Superintendent in the UMC) work together to mutually clarify the pastor's assignment, some very practical questions have to be addressed.
What do we mean by "assignment? How is it different from a job description? Who determines it?
What does the congregation most need at this stage in its development? What will that require from the congregation? What will that require from a pastoral leader? What will that require from the conference?
For the next year, what is the pastor's assignment at this location? What are the outcomes that pastor & church will work for? What are the benchmarks that will assess progress towards those outcomes? What support and/or additional training will the pastor need in order to be successful in this assignment
What are the implications of this assignment regarding the pastor's focus? What will NOT be a primary focus of their time and energy? What are the SPRC's responsibilities regarding this assignment? What are the Superintendent's responsibilities regarding this assignment?
When will the assignment re-visited, re-adjusted and re-agreed to by the three parties?
You know your appointment. Do you also know your assignment? What conversations do you need to have with your church? With your district superintendent? How will you begin those conversations?